Curse

dansamy · Sep 30, 2005, 08:40 PM // 20:40

A piece of video game history is sitting in my living room. A 1979 Galaxian "c o c ktail" table arcade game. The 1st ever true RGB color arcade monitor. It also happens to be the 1st ever arcade game I ever played, sitting in Pizza Hut playing against my sister. And the next generation of gamers? Well, they're cutting their teeth on it now. My 6yr old son and 5yr old daughter are competing to get to level 2 while their very amused (and nostalgic) mother watches.

Xue Yi Liang · Sep 30, 2005, 10:12 PM // 22:12

you are the (wo)man!

How much did that item cost you? If you grew up addicted to these - just the sound effects alone can still trigger an endorphin rush. Galaxian was a fantastic choice.

Can I come over and play?

Alone) · Sep 30, 2005, 10:33 PM // 22:33

I'm trying to find the Pacman game that used to be in restaurants while waiting for a table.

dansamy · Sep 30, 2005, 11:29 PM // 23:29

The right price: FREE!! And yes, I love Galaxian so much that it was the 1st video game I installed on my Treo 650 smartphone. Tetris was the 2nd.

Yes, folks. The kids of the 80s are adults and *gasp* parents!

Xue Yi Liang · Oct 01, 2005, 01:51 AM // 01:51

free?
free?
- there's a story in there - please share

Galaxian would be close to the top of my list for vintage games. Before game sound effects became ultra realistic, each of these games had a signature palatte of sound effects and music that called out in an arcade like pheromones in a forest.

Galaxian was good at it. Pac-Man was another.

Hmm ... I wouldn't mind Defender (or its sequel whose name I forgot).
Crazy Climber, anyone?
Tempest?

dansamy · Oct 01, 2005, 09:12 AM // 09:12

My husband's supervisor at work traded a tv for it way back in the late 80s when the game was about 10yrs old. He was in the military and the game was in the military exchange. He's had it since, and when he decided to get rid of it, my husband said he'd take it.

(BTW, my 5yr old daughter beat my 6yr old son. She got up to level 3!

)

Xue Yi Liang · Oct 01, 2005, 01:55 PM // 13:55

seems your daughter has a lot of her mom in her

Those are perfect for kids because, unlike any PC or console game, they can take all the physical abuse that a 6 year old can muster. Spill a soda on it and you wipe it off. And I'll bet it can run for years without maintenance.

How's the screen? Are the colors still ok?

My brother once acquired a non-functional standup Tempest figuring he'd bring it back to life. It turns out that everything was fine ... except for the screen which happens to be $$$ to replace. He gave up.

dansamy · Oct 02, 2005, 01:52 AM // 01:52

The screen's colors were kinda screwed up and lacked red (thus NO score

), but my husband played with the adjustment knobs and it's *almost* perfect. (Really the only people who would know that it wasn't quite right are those of us who spent HOURS playing!!) The screen itself functions quite nicely, but it does have the burn-in imaging that was common to early arcade monitors. We're still trying to get the image properly sized and centered on the display. The ship half-disappears when you fly all the way to the left. Overall, I am VERY thrilled to have it! We've been looking up the graphics for the tabletop and the cabinet, since these are long gone.